Tokyo, Japan - July 30 - The U.S. Olympic Women's Water Polo Team closed out group play at the Tokyo Olympic Games with a flourish, defeating ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) 18-5 and making history in the process. It was a bounce back effort after a loss to Hungary on Wednesday, their first in the Olympic Games since 2008, and also a day for the record books. With her third goal of the match, team captain
Maggie Steffens became the career leader in goals scored in Olympic women's water polo history. Moments later she added to it, giving her four goals for the match and 49 in her career. Steffens surpassed the previous mark of 47 set by Italy's Tania Di Mario.
Stephania Haralabidis added to the scoring bonanza with four goals of her own while
Ashleigh Johnson was stellar in net turning aside 16 shots. Team USA finishes group play at 3-1 and has a bye on August 1 as group play comes to a close. They await their opponent in the quarterfinal round on August 3. A replay of the win over ROC is available to stream by
clicking here and will replay as part of Olympic coverage on NBC starting at 12pm et/9am pt and on NBCSN starting at 8pm et/5pm pt. More information on Team USA's quarterfinal opponent will be shared when available.
Team USA got to work early as
Makenzie Fischer opened the scoring less than three minutes into the match.
Alys Williams followed with her second goal in Tokyo a little over a minute later for a 2-0 advantage. After ROC got on the board, Haralabidis started to heat up, hitting first from the outside and then delivering on the counter attack for two of the next three goals. In between that,
Kaleigh Gilchrist found the back of the net and by the time the first quarter came to a close the United States built a 5-1 lead.
After
Paige Hauschild started the scoring in the second quarter, Steffens got her first goal of the match inching closer to the record and putting Team USA up 7-1. ROC returned fire with two straight goals but Steffens was there to stop the run with a power play goal for an 8-3 lead with 1:08 to go in the half.
Rachel Fattal closed the scoring moments later for a 9-3 edge at halftime.
Maddie Musselman opened a high scoring third with a tally for 10-3 lead, setting the stage for Steffen's record breaking goal. Less than a minute later Steffens got free in front of the cage and buried the shot to set the new scoring mark. It didn't last long as moments later Steffens hit again for her fourth of the match, the 49th in her Olympic career, giving Team USA a 12-3 lead. Haralabidis, Hauschild and
Jamie Neushul followed with goals for Team USA. The Neushul goal was her first as an Olympian and Team USA took a 15-4 lead to the fourth.
Makenzie Fischer scored early in the fourth as Team USA cemented their victory. Scores followed by Haralabidis and Hauschild en route to the 18-5 win. Power plays didn't play a huge role as Team USA went 4/5 and ROC was 4/6. Neither side attempted a penalty shot.
Scoring -
Stats
USA 18 (5, 4, 6, 3) M. Steffens 4, S. Haralabidis 4, P. Hauschild 3, M. Fischer 2, A. Williams 1, M. Musselman 1, R. Fattal 1, J. Neushul 1, K. Gilchrist 1
ROC 5 (1, 2, 1, 1) A. Simanovich 2, E. Prokofyeva 1, A. Serzhantova 1, E. Ivanova 1
Saves - USA - A. Johnson 16 - ROC - E. Golovina 7
6x5 - USA - 4/5 - ROC - 4/6
penalties - USA - 0/0 - ROC - 0/0
Flash Quotes
Maggie Steffens On Setting The Olympic Record For Goals Scored In Women's Water Polo
"I think it's definitely really cool for our sport and our team. Our team is constantly looking at ways to propel the sport forward...As much as it's definitely cool and I appreciate it, you can't have that without teammates, you can't have that without a pass, you can't have that without even being able to play the sport with women who you train with and dream with...As much as this is cool to have my name attached to it, it's really about our team and our culture and the women that came before me as well."
